quick question bout garlic

[Richard Eldritch]

Are we saying the smaller cloves from the larger bulbs ?

I think so.

Here's my case. If you plant out small cloves in the late autumn / early winter then they have far less to power them through to the next spring when light levels increase.Which is after all the function of the a clove.

[BertieFox]

What happens in winter is that the clove is not struggling to survive but creating a root system which will be quite extensive before it begins to sprout at the top. You can see this when you plant them in pots in the greenhouse. As garlic has a very short spring/early summer growing period, it has to be well established to grow properly. This is why autumn planting is vital. What really matters is what happens during the growing period. While I can understand that the very small cloves may not have sufficient 'oomph' to make that necessary root system, I would not have thought that there would be much difference in the final bulb size between large cloves and medium sized ones. In the end it is the vigour and health of the growing plant, the green stem, that determines the eventual size of the bulb.

We must definitely all experiment with this in the autumn to see if we can establish some real evidence.

[Shadylane]

OOh yes, lets have a group garlic testing experiment.